CHAPTER 29
Your Personal Action Plan
When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.
—THOMAS EDISON
The next step in your journey to great leadership will take place after reading this chapter, when you take the leadership assessment and develop your personal action plan online. Up to this point, we have discussed management and leadership as they apply to high potentials in general. Some concepts aligned with your specific needs, some you had already mastered, and some were not relevant to your current situation. Some concepts may have resonated with you more than others because, consciously or unconsciously, you know which parts of your leadership and management mindsets you would like to enhance and which are serving you well.
The four types of leadership conversations may have felt familiar because you participate in them regularly—or hear them happening at levels above you. You may feel effective in holding some of the four conversations and uncomfortable with others. The intent of the assessment is to measure your management and leadership aptitude in each of the four conversations as the basis for preparing a personal action plan—your personal strategic plan as a high potential.
One common business maxim is, “If it’s not in writing, it doesn’t exist.” So we ask that you capture your thoughts, strategies, actions, and measures of success in writing. We understand that you are busy, so we designed the Internet-based leadership assessment and online tools to help you build your personal action plan efficiently. Your plan will contain actions that are unique to your industry, your position, and your concerns. and will include possibilities that you ordinarily would not have considered. Based on results of the assessment, your plan will be tailored to the leadership and management requirements of your current position and the next higher position.
In general, the assessment applies the following guidelines:
Your leadership assessment will provide guidance on where to focus to become great in your current position and to prepare for the next level. You have a responsibility to everyone in your organization to be the best leader you can be—and should expect the same from others. If you are reading this book with your colleagues or an external group, consider sharing your action plans and mentoring each other. Whom would you trust to mentor or coach you?
The leadership assessment will evaluate the degree to which you possess the management and leadership mindsets and skills discussed in this book as appropriate to your current position. In areas where you have mastered the skills needed for your current level, your personal action plan will guide you to develop proficiencies for the next level. If you are not yet fully competent in your current role, we suggest you focus on the skills to reach competence there first. After a few months, retake the assessment and refine the plan for earning your next promotion. Your personal action plan will point you toward areas that will provide high value for you.
Your personal action plan will have two distinct yet interrelated sections that are designed to be developed and implemented concurrently. After you have taken the assessment, the online plan development tool will guide you through preparation of
Now that you have a feeling for the value your personal action plan will provide, take the assessment and develop your action plan by following these four steps:
We invite you to communicate with leadership experts, other readers, and us on the website. When you interact with others who face similar leadership challenges, you will be working toward common goals using the same methodology and tools on your quest to become a great leader.
You can take your next steps in the journey to becoming a great leader on an individual basis, as part of a group in your organization, in a public forum at myleadershipconversations.com, or in a combination of all three. As you climb the leadership ladder and lead larger and more complex groups of people, you will benefit from these additional resources.
This book enables you to participate in Internet-based leadership conversations with your peers, leadership experts, and us about the challenges and opportunities you face. These conversations will be enhanced because everyone shares a common language. New features, content, and digital tools will be added regularly. As of this writing, the following resources are available on the website:
We are always open to recommendations to expand the value of the website by adding content or starting new forums. Let us know via email or the website how we can make this resource more valuable and user-friendly for you.
In addition to forums, peer coaching, and supplementary materials, the website also identifies professional coaches—many of whom we have worked with personally—who have experience working with the methodologies and concepts in this book. They all have appropriate certifications and first-rate professional reputations. You may want to engage a coach for individual coaching or to facilitate a workshop based on Leadership Conversations.
The website also catalogs leadership survey instruments, 360-degree assessments, and other tools from world-class training organizations. One of the most valuable services that a coach can offer to you and your organization is to conduct a leadership survey or a 360-degree assessment. The results will fuel conversations that are critical to your future. Four words of advice: listen, reflect, learn, and act. Be open to feedback because this openness indicates that you are a learner and have high potential for growth.
A professional coach can assist you in performing better in the short term and reaching your high potential faster than you would otherwise. A coach does not need to know the fine points of your industry—that is the role of a mentor. Instead, a coach’s job is to assist you in becoming aware of your shadows, defining your leadership brand, and acquiring the competencies required to become a great leader.
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